Teach English in Potton - TEFL Courses

Teaching beginner students (59) As a teacher of beginner students, it can be difficult to communicate when your students don't speak any english, yet you should be having an immersion class where speaking only in english is encouraged. So before you begin teaching an immersion class, it's important to understand the benefits of having only english spoken during your class. According to Grace Chen of the Public School Review, full immersion promotes communication, helps develop a deeper understanding and fluency and also helps the student grow in other areas of their lives as well. First, the immersion forces the student to use the new language in order to communicate with the teacher and classmates helping them to develop initial literacy including reading and writing. That in turn leads to a more complete understanding of the language in the future. Moreover, the ability to read a foreign language often transfers from one language to another. In essence, research shows that a full immersion program not only teaches students a foreign language, it strengthens their understanding of their native language as well. Additionally, it exposes children to other cultures, helps them learn to connect with classmates, make new friends and increases a student's awareness of global interaction which is very important in today's society. The first thing you need to know in order to get started is whom you are teaching. You will need to know what ages your students are, what, if any experience they have with the english language and what purpose they have for wanting to learn english. Hopefully you will know this information before the first class. You should know if they are an absolute beginner that doesn't know any english at all or a false beginner that may have studied english in the past or perhaps they don't even know the Roman alphabet, as is the case in many Asian countries. Is this an adult class or are they younger students. In many cases this will determine their motivation, attention span and their ability to learn. So be diligent ahead of time to ascertain this information so you can make an appropriate syllabus for the class. Once you have the above mentioned information you are now ready for your first day, the most challenging but most rewarding day. Normally you would introduce a lesson but with a first class of beginners, they won't understand. Here are some suggestions to get things started. First, begin by speaking quietly and using hand gestures as students arrive to get the class seated. Once they are ready to go, open the lesson by walking up to a student in the first row and shake their hands and say “Hello.” He or she will most likely not reply so keep shaking their hand and say hello again as you point (with an open hand, never a finger) from yourself to them and then point from them back to you and keep saying hello until they respond back. Then smile positively and move on to the next person and then every person in the class. Once they all have said hello back to you, guide two students to face each other and have them shake hands and say hello to each other. Get other pairs to do the same and then have them mingle around the room shaking hands and saying hello to each other. This is how you introduce a language item. It also gets them accustomed to learning new language items so they next one will be easier for them to understand. So, for that next one, introduce yourself. “My name is Brian.” Point to yourself as you approach a student and say your name. Gesture for them to answer with their name and then follow the same pattern as you did with hello. Now, within a matter of minutes, the students can speak and understand two phrases in english. Additionally, they will be familiar with how they are going to learn in the class. This will be the pattern you should follow as you work through the course book.